Maharashtra: Ajit Pawar gets back reins of finance, power departments

Mumbai: Five days after the Winter Session of the state Legislature ended, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Wednesday assumed charge of the Finance and Power portfolios. Governor K Sankaranarayanan on Monday approved the notification forwarded by Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan for handover of the departments to the senior Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader.

"Pawar assumed charge of the finance and power portfolios today," an official in the Deputy Chief Minister's office said.

Pawar had resigned in September as the Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra over allegations of corruption in the irrigation scam, and had also relinquished charge of his departments - finance, planning and power.

Pawar had resigned in September as the Deputy Chief Minister over allegations of corruption in the irrigation scam.

He made a comeback to power on December 7 after the state government published a white paper on irrigation, and was sworn in two days before the commencement of the Winter Session of state Legislature at Nagpur.